Tamara Podemski
Born in Toronto to an Israeli father and Anishinaabe mother, Tamara Podemski is a multi-disciplinary artist who has produced a variety of acclaimed work on stage, on screen, and in the recording studio. Her work on screen has garnered such awards as the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for her 2007 role in Four Sheets to the Wind and a 2008 IFC Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. From 2019 to 2021 she starred in the television series Coroner. At the 2020 Canadian Screen Awards she received a nomination for Best Writing in a Factual Series for her work as screenwriter for the documentary series Future Histories. Her diverse stage career includes highlights such as starring in the Broadway musical Rent and her role in the all-indigenous play This is How We Got Here. She has released three musical albums, one in English and the other two in Anishinaabemowin under her own label, Mukwa music. For these she has won two Aboriginal Music Awards for her self-titled album and two awards for her music video “Meegwetch.” As a community worker, Podemski shares her cultural and creative experiences through workshops, keynotes, and panel discussions. Podemski is a graduate of the Claude Watson School for the Performing Arts in Toronto where she studied theater, dance, and music throughout its ten-year program.